Improved propellee



@geiten tutrs datent @ffice WILLIAM LAWTON, OF GREEN POINT, NEW' YORK.

Lette/'s Patent 1Y0. 60,451, dalmr'tober 1, 1867..

IMPROVED PROPELLER.

dtp dgfhnlr numb tu in tlgrse lettrts ,jatent actuating mi nt the same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LAw'rON, of Green Point, in the county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Driving Propellers; and l do hereby declare that the following `is a full, clear, and exact description tl1ereof,l\\'l1ich will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section ot" the stern of a vessel to which my improvement has been attached, taken through the line :r a', fig. 2.

Figure 2 is a detail sectional view of thesame taken through the line g/ y, fig. l.

My invention has for its object to furnish an improved device by means of which the screw may be made to revolve more rapidly than the driving-shaft operated by the engine, so as to drive the boat at speed by a vslow movement of the engine; and it consists in the combination of a series of stationary and movable gearwheels with each other and with the driving and working-shafts, as hereinafter more fully described.

A represents the hull of a vessel, and B represents the screw or propeller, about the construction of which parts there is nothing new. C is the working-shaft, to which the screw B is attached in the ordinary manner; To the forward end of' the shaft C is attached a gear-wheel, D, so as to carry the said shaft C with it in its revolution. The forward end of the shaft C enters and revolves in a socket formed in the end of the drivingshaft E, to which motion is given by the engine in the ordinary manner. To the end of the driving-shaft E are attached, or upon it are formed, radial arms F, to the ends of which are pivoted gear-wheels G, the teeth of which mesh into the teeth of the gear-wheel D attached to the end of the working or screw-shaft C, and also into the teeth of the stationary gear-wheel H, which is securely and rigidly attached to suitable supports, and the teeth of which are formed upon the inner or concave side of its rim, as shown in fig. 2. The gear-wheels D, G, H, should be so proportioned to each other'that the shaft C may revolve as many times faster than the` shaft E as may be desired. I generally prefer to have the shaft C revolve three times while the shaft E is revolving once, as giving more satisfactory results.

My invention has been described as being applied to a propeller-shaft, but it is equally applicable to other eases where it is desired to drive the working-shaft at a. greater or less speed than the driving-shaft. It will be observed that by this construction the thrust-friction between the shafts C and E will be greatly lessened, because, the two shafts revolving in the same direction, when the shaft C revolves three times and the shaft E once, thefrietion between the ends of the said shafts will only be that of two revolutions, thus materially diminishing the amount of friction to be overcome.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the arms F, pivoted gear-wheels G, stationary internally-toothed gear-wheel H, and

gear-wheel D with each other and with the driving-shaft E and working-shaft C, substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 21st day of August 1867.

WILLIAM LAWTON.

Witnesses:

ALEX. F. ROBERTS, JAMES T. GRAHAM. 

